The News Agents

Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall left the BBC in 2022 and almost immediately launched what became one of the UK’s biggest independent news podcasts. The News Agents runs daily on weekdays, typically 30 to 50 minutes per episode, and the format sits somewhere between a newscast and a pub conversation among very well-connected journalists. Maitlis brings the sharp interviewing style she honed on Newsnight. Sopel adds decades of experience as a Washington and Paris correspondent. Goodall rounds things out with political reporting that consistently breaks stories before the broadsheets catch up. What makes the show work is the chemistry -- they genuinely disagree sometimes, laugh at the absurdity of the news cycle, and aren’t afraid to say when a story confuses them too. Episodes usually focus on one or two major stories with real depth, plus a quick scan of what else matters that day. The show has crossed 1,100 episodes and won multiple awards, including recognition from the British Podcast Awards. It also spawned a USA edition for American listeners. If you want daily news analysis that treats you like an adult and doesn’t talk down to its audience, this is one of the best options going -- particularly strong on UK and European politics, but increasingly global in scope.